Rand Rebellion

The strike under the Augmented Executive

Hours after the beginning of the general strike in January 1922, striking white workers were recruited into local town-based militias known as 'Commandos'.^[3]: 24 Captured documents relating to the formation of these commandos would reveal that they were formed with the express purpose to "establish this country as a white man's country".^[4] Initially, many of these commandos had few if any firearms, and some, such as the Brakpan Commando, resorted to using sticks and pickaxe handles in order to partake in drilling exercises.^[1]: 10 As the strike grew however, the commandos became more organized and better equipped, each commando eventually having its own group of uniformed officers, a signal corps, an ambulance corps, an intelligence section, and small mounted (horse and bicycle) sections.^[1]: 5 Women Commandos also partook in the strike and later revolt.^[1]: 5

Despite reassurances from Joe Thompson to South African Police officials that the commandos existed to assist the police in the potential event of a 'native' uprising, and that the commandos would remain lawful and peaceful unless provoked, incidents of violence caused by the commandos almost immediately began to occur.^[5]: 52

On the night of 18 January, a group of approximately 40 strikers, all members of the strikers' Putfontein Commando, overpowered and disarmed 2 police officers guarding a mine's pump station. The strikers attempted to gain the loyalty of the two policemen, but when this failed, the strikers profusely apologized and unconditionally released the police officers.^[5]: 52 While many of the Augmented Executive claimed that these 40 strikers were not representative of their whole movement, Percy Fisher stated in a speech on 23 January 1922 that the strikers should have attacked more police positions instead of immediately letting the two captured officers go.^[1]: 5

On 2 February 1922, instructions were issued by the Augmented Executive to local Strike Committees, ordering the latter to utilize the commandos in order to deal with "scabs" (non-striking white workers and all non-white workers), in whatever way was seen fit, no matter if it was by persuasion or force.^[1]: 19 The intimidation and assault of "scabs" then began all across the Witwatersrand region, with outnumbered police officers trying to protect the "scabs".^[1]: 19 Up until 3 February 1922, the police had only been armed with batons. After that date a quarter of all police on duty in the region were armed with rifles. Only three days later on 6 February 1922, the proportion of police armed with rifles was raised to half of all police in the region.^[1]: 19

Percy Fisher continued to give speeches that called for violent action and for strikers to join their local commandos. Those strikers who refused to join a commando were publicly booed and jeered by their fellow strikers.^[3]: 27 At strike rallies, the theme of "Fighting for a White South Africa" became increasingly prominent,^[5]: 52 and banners with the phrase "Workers of the World, Unite and Fight for a White South Africa!" were carried by the strikers.^[1]: 18 On 6 February 1922, Fisher stated in a speech that "We are out to win this fight and by God we will, [even] if we have to raze Johannesburg to the ground."^[1]: 5

The Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), realizing that the Rand Lords would not give in to the strikers' demands, began recruiting strikers into the CPSA.^[5]: 53 Recruiters for the CPSA repeatedly and openly called on the strikers to achieve their demands through violent means, and after gaining sizable support from the strikers,^[5]: 53 the CPSA formed a 5-man 'Council of Action' led by Percy Fisher, with Harry Spendiff as Fisher's second-in-command.^[5]: 53 The three other members of the Council of Action (which was also referred to as the Committee of Action) were George Mason, Bill Andrews, and Ernest Shaw.^[3]: 65

In the early stages of the strike, both the leadership of the Augmented Executive and the Council of Action publicly denounced violence against "scabs" and non-white South Africans in order to appease government officials, and had varying (but oftentimes little) actual belief in the racist ideas responsible for the initial strike,^[1]: 28 but both groups of leaders were willing to and did choose to use racist rhetoric in order to galvanize the white strikers (the strikers themselves being fully supportive of racist policies) into fighting for a "White South Africa".^[1]: 18 Various unprovoked attacks by the commandos against "native" non-white South Africans were justified by the commandos with the unfounded idea that the "natives" instigated such attacks as a part of a greater "native uprising" that was being backed by the Rand Lords.^{[1]: 66, 67, 68, 69 [3]: 47}

On 8 February 1922, all five members of the Council of Action were arrested under the charge of inciting public violence against non-striking workers.^[5]: 53 There was vocal outrage from the strikers, but little violence actually occurred during this period, besides a few isolated incidents.^[5]: 53 One such incident was on 18 February 1922, when a large group of strikers occupied the Newlands Police Station and freed two strikers who had been placed in police custody. The police immediately retaliated and the two men were arrested again.^{[5]: 53, 54}

Percy Fisher and his Council of Action were released from custody on bail on 20 February 1922 (despite express opposition to this by the police) and incidents of violence, especially violence targeted towards "scabs" and mine officials, immediately increased in number.^[5]: 54

At Brakpan on 27 February 1922, the police got into a clash with a commando, and while only batons and fists were used, a number of police were injured.^[1]: 19 At Driefontein Mine, a group of approximately 60 mounted strikers were caught trespassing on the mine's premises. The police dispersed the strikers and made 27 arrests, despite heavy protest from the strikers resulting in the injuries of 3 policemen.^{[5]: 54 [1]: 19} That evening, 700 Special Constables were mobilized to the outlying Johannesburg areas in order to allow regular police to focus on policing the busiest parts of Johannesburg.^[1]: 19 These Special Constables, or 'Blues' as they were nicknamed, had been recruited from Durban and not locally in order to ensure that the constables' loyalties remained firmly towards the government and its orders.^[6] The next day, on 28 February 1922, a large group of strikers demonstrated outside of Boksburg Prison (which was where the arrested strikers from the previous day were being held).^[5]: 54 The commanding officer, Captain Jock Fulford, twice requested that the crowd disperse, but was ignored on both occasions.^[5]: 54 Someone in the crowd of strikers opened fire on the police with a firearm whereupon Captain Fulford responded by firing warning shots above the heads of the strikers.^[5]: 54 A further five shots were fired from the crowd, seriously wounding police Captain Leishman and two other constables.^[1]: 19 Captain Fulford ordered one of his sections to fire four rounds into the crowd. Three strikers were killed and seven were injured, and the crowd immediately dispersed.^[5]: 54 While a later investigation and questioning of witnesses exonerated the police of any wrongdoing, the incident only angered the strikers even more.^[1]: 19

Lieutenant Colonel R.S Godley of the South African Police immediately had a meeting with strike leaders in order to request a decrease in tensions, and Godley received assurances from the strike leaders that law and order would be maintained.^[5]: 54 On 2 March 1922, pamphlets were produced by both the Augmented Executive as well as the Council of Action, calling on their members to remain calm and avoid violence,^{[5]: 54 [7]: 83} but this contrasted with continued violence instigated by the commandos and strikers,^[5]: 55 as well as secret meetings which had later taken place between the Council of Action and the officers of the strike commandos. One such meeting took place on 3 March 1922 at the Johannesburg Trade Hall, where the strike officers were sworn to secrecy in the name of the future revolt under the threat of being shot.^[1]: 6

On 1 March 1922, a large demonstration of strikers took place on the Union Grounds in Johannesburg.^[1]: 12Strike Commandos attempted to intimidate workers at the City Deep Mine, but were driven away by armed mine officials and special police.^[1]: 12 Two days later, on 3 March, the Tramway Strike Commando was formed, and shots were exchanged between Strike Commandos and Special Police at City Deep Mine.^[1]: 12

After the revolt had ended, an unnamed "general" of one of the strike commandos submitted an affidavit to the independent commission investigating the revolt, stating that on 5 March 1922, Percy Fisher and Harry Spendiff had approached him, asking if he knew that the Augmented Executive had handed over the powers to control the strike to the Council of Action.^[1]: 7 The general had said he had heard rumours about the transition of power, at which point Fisher and Spendiff chose to lie, falsely confirming to the general that the rumours were true. The two Council of Action members then asked the general if he wanted to become "Commander-In-Chief" of the strike commandos, to which the general responded with hesitancy, asking for time to think over the offer.^[1]: 7

The strike under the Council of Action

On 6 March 1922, the Augmented Executive and its Joint Executive gathered at the Rissik Street trade hall in order to consider a potential ballot regarding the status of the strike.^[1]: 20 Early into the meeting, commandos armed with revolvers and other weaponry stormed the building and trapped the representatives inside of the meeting room. The commandos insisted that no ballot should take place, and that the general strike should continue.^[1]: 20 At the same time, Percy Fisher and Bill Andrews addressed a crowd which had formed outside of the trade hall on the building's balcony, stating that power over the strike had been willingly given to the Council of Action by the Augmented Executive.^[1]: 20 What little control the Augmented Executive still had over the commandos (and by extension the strike) no longer existed, and full control of the commandos and strike was now in the possession of Percy Fisher, the Council of Action, and the CPSA.^[1]: 20

On the same day, an aggressive crowd of 2000 strikers in Fordsburg were dispersed by a police unit under the command of Captain Kunhardt after members of the police were threatened with firearms and police Sergeant R.S Graham was cut in the face by a striker's makeshift weapon.^[5]: 55 Simultaneously, police had fired shots at a crowd of strikers setting fire to strikebreakers' and mine officials' homes at the East Rand Proprietary Mines.^[5]: 55 At the Witwatersrand Mine, several black workers were shot by a strike commando.^[1]: 12

In most of these instances, crowds of civilian bystanders stood and watched the police take action, which sometimes hindered the police officers' ability to take effective action.^[5]: 55 Colonel C.N Anderson of the Permanent Force would later tell government officials that "Society is of the opinion that the police acts in a commendable manner, but also that they are hindered by agitated crowds and thousands of spectators." On 7 March, Colonel Godley would issue a command prohibiting the public from being within the vicinity of the strikers.^[5]: 55

A general strike had been declared to take place on 7 March 1922 by the Council of Action.^[1]: 12 On the day that the general strike began, the strikers and their armed commandos began committing crimes across the Witwatersrand region.^[1]: 12 Individuals still working were forcibly removed from their working spaces and their businesses were closed, Non-white South Africans were attacked and killed in great numbers, Police were shot at, Businesses and homes were destroyed and looted, taxis and cars were hijacked, utilities and railway lines were destroyed, and mines were attacked with dynamite.^[1]: 12

On 8 March 1922, a meeting between the commando officers and the Council of Action was held at the Johannesburg Trade Hall under the guise of forming a response to "native unrest".^[1]: 6 At the meeting, Fisher stated that there was no "native unrest", and then went on to discuss military plans for their upcoming revolt against the government.^[1]: 6 When one commando officer immediately tried to resign in disgust, the officer was forced to stay in his position after he was threatened with being shot.^[1]: 6

The following day, on 9 March 1922, the strikers unsuccessfully attempted to sabotage the train line between Krugersdorp and Luipaardsvlei in order to capture and kill Jan Smuts, who was believed to be traveling via that railway line.^[1]: 9 Wolhulter Mine was besieged and shot at by strikers while in Sophiatown, two Black South Africans were killed.^[1]: 12 Furthermore, black South Africans in Ferreiratown and Marshall Square were harassed by strikers, while the Durban Light Infantry's mobilization offices in Benoni were burnt down.^[1]: 12

Newlands

Unaware that martial law would be declared on the same day, a commando of strikers approached the Newlands Police Station in the early hours of 10 March and demanded its surrender.^[5]: 56 Sergeant Thomas Bell refused to hand over the station to the strikers, and the strikers in turn opened fire on the police. The Officer Commanding, Lieutenant Long, gave the order for the policemen to defend Newlands station, and the police officers then returned fire. During the attack, which lasted a few hours, improvised bombs and hand grenades were thrown at the policemen.^[5]: 56 Once the policemen's ammunition was finally depleted, Lieutenant Long ordered his men to stand down, and they were promptly captured by the rebels.^[5]: 56

After finding out that Newlands Police Station was attacked, police officials ordered Lieutenant J.W Whyte and a unit of 40 police officers under his command to assist and relieve the defenders of Newlands Station.^[5]: 56 As the relief force made its way to the station, it was ambushed by emboldened rebels and two policemen were killed while three others were wounded.^[5]: 56 A civilian doctor soon approached the ambushed policemen under a white flag in order to treat the wounded, but while the doctor treated the wounded, the revolutionaries advanced onto the police's positions and immediately disarmed and captured the officers.^[5]: 56 This "reckless abuse" of the white flag (as newspapers at the time described it) was widely criticized, and the incident served to make the revolutionaries increasingly unpopular amongst most white South Africans.^[5]: 56 A truce was then agreed upon between the two forces, on the condition that both sides maintained their positions and obtained no reinforcements.^[4]: 183 Before being taken prisoner, Lieutenant Whyte had sent out a request for reinforcements, and upon receiving this request, Godley ordered Captain Jack Carruthers with "J" Squadron, and Major Southy Hutcheons with "F" Squadron and a Maxim machine gun crew to relieve the ambushed policemen and to prevent the commandos from entering Johannesburg "at all costs".^[4]: 185

Having spotted "J" Squadron, Lieutenant Whyte was then granted permission from the rebel commando officer in charge, a man named Viljoen, to leave the surrounded policemen's positions and inform the relief force about the ongoing truce and to send them away from the area.^[4]: 186 Having been halted and informed of the situation on the main road opposite an Asian-owned shop, Captain Carruthers sent Lieutenant Baston as a dispatch runner to Marshall Square, as it was believed that Baston could explain the situation to the police leadership "more lucidly and intelligently" than a regular policeman.^[4]: 188 Commandant Viljoen and a captured police sergeant (who was taken to ensure the Commandant's safe passage), soon arrived in order to see what had been going on.^[4]: 187 While Viljoen was kept busy, Lieutenant Whyte had wanted to return to his surrounded men, but was dissuaded by Carruthers, who in the meantime had used this truce as an opportunity to send one troop of "J" Squadron to the ridge behind the police's current position in order to serve as a rearguard and scouting party.^[4]: 188 "F" Squadron was soon spotted by this rearguard troop, and Carruthers sent a recently returned Baston to inform Hutcheons of the situation and to request that "F" Squadron remain behind the ridge until further notice.^[4]: 188

A lorry occupied by policemen had been spotted by Carruthers' men, and when Commandant Viljoen was questioned on this by Carruther, the commando officer stated that he had sent them out to obtain food. This excuse was initially taken at face value, but it was later evident that these policemen were in fact prisoners being escorted to entrenched revolutionary positions.^[4]: 188 After giving this explanation, Viljoen left and rejoined his Commandos, while Carruthers met with Hutcheons to discuss the situation.^[4]: 189

During this subsequent period of waiting, Carruthers received word from multiple pro-government civilians that the Newlands Commando had around 1200 combatants, and that these revolutionaries occupied the entire semi-circling ridge system in front of "J" Squadron, as well as many houses between Brixton and Newlands.^[4]: 189 Despite the apparent truce, members of "J" Squadron had seen rebel commandos slowly advancing in an attempt to envelop "J" Squadron's right flank.^[4]: 189 As the police continued waiting, multiple groups of black and coloured South Africans from the surrounding settlements approached the police in order to request protection from the rebels.^[4]: 189 Carruthers would respond to these groups by promising them that they would "not be deserted" and that in the meantime they should remain quietly in their homes.^[4]: 189

Under a Red Cross, a member of the Newlands Commando approached the police from Newlands via motorcycle, and reported to the policemen that "the coloured people of Sophiatown and the vicinity intended attacking the commandos that night" and then explained that he was there to request cooperation from the police in dealing with the alleged threat.^[4]: 189 Carruthers, who had received several deputations earlier that afternoon from the local black and Coloured communities, outright rejected this proposal from the commando Red Cross representative.^[4]: 189 Carruthers correctly believed that the idea of a "native attack" was a ruse used with the intention of luring the policemen into rebel positions at Newlands.^[4]: 189

At 6 PM that evening, after getting no new orders from police headquarters, Carruthers withdrew "J" Squadron to the ridge where Hutcheons' "F" Squadron was situated.^[4]: 189 Three troops of "F" Squadron and the maxim crew, under the command of Captain Coxwell, occupied the ridge to the south of, and which overlooked, the main road between Brixton and Newlands, while the fourth troop of "F" Squadron under the local command of Lieutenant Robinson was positioned on a smaller ridge overlooking the Auckland Park racecourse, and to the north of the main road where it emerged from Brixton.^[4]: 189 The policemen noted in later reports that the telephone wires along this road had been cut in numerous places by the rebels.^[4]: 189

Constable J.J Geldenhuis was sent in the direction of Brixton in order to buy bread from the first possible shop for the police force, but he was shot in the head and killed by a man who had been sitting on the 'stoep' of an adjacent house.^[4]: 189 The police immediately searched the house, but found it to be vacant.^[4]: 190 The mounted policemen withdrew their horses and left them in better cover inside a basin behind the front ridge, while Lieutenant Robinson's position was strengthened.^[4]: 190 One troop of "J" squadron was posted to the front ridge with the maxim while the other three troops of "J" squadron were moved to the back ridge overlooking Langlaate railway station.^[4]: 190

No action took place that night, but the next day, on 11 March, large numbers of armed men were seen by the police running from house to house, approaching the police's position before entering the premises of an extensive brick-field which was immediately opposite to and 500 yards from the position of the police maxim machine gun.^[4]: 190 The policemen did not open fire, as they did not know what was happening in other areas and they did not want to be the first to break the apparent truce which the rebels had enforced upon them.^[4]: 190

At some time just after 7 AM, the revolutionaries in the brick fields (who numbered around 200 combatants) and revolutionaries at Auckland Park racecourse and the houses in Newlands, opened fire on the policemen.^[4]: 190 The rebels reportedly had multiple "remarkable" marksmen who Carruthers would later report had given the police "a great deal of trouble".^[4]: 190 The rebels focused their fire primarily on the Maxim gun position.^[4]: 190

At around 10:30 AM, Lieutenant Whyte was shot by a sniper, the bullet entering the side of his throat and emerging from behind the left shoulder.^[4]: 190 It was noted by the police that the revolutionaries used dum-dum and soft-nosed bullets, both of which had been banned at the 1899 Hague Convention.^[4]: 191 Constable D.J van Heerden, a member of the Maxim section, was shot through the head and then dragged to safety under immense fire by Constable P.J Botha.^[4]: 191

As a result of these casualties, it became imperative to obtain an ambulance and medical aid for the wounded. Detective Meehan was dispatched by Major Hutcheons on a bicycle for this purpose, but the detective was turned back by rebel pickets at Brixton.^[4]: 191 Lieutenant Baston and Constable G.P Trout, under a red cross flag, attempted to reach a nearby motorcycle that they could use to get an ambulance from Johannesburg, but both were fired at by the rebels and eventually had to return to cover.^[4]: 191 Three Coloured men from the nearby Newclare Township went directly to Carruthers and volunteered to try and run a message through to Police positions at Marshall Square.^[4]: 191 Carruthers, with no other option, accepted their help and verbally gave the trio the following message which he had the trio repeat until all three could explain it by memory:

11.3.22, 9.30 AM. Colonel Godley, Marshall Square. Holding ridge town side of Native Western Township near Brixton. Engaged since 7 AM under heavy rifle fire from commandos in apparent strength. No food, no water, men and horses since leaving Show Ground morning 10th. Ammunition running low, cannot replenish, urgent assistance essential with provisions, food, men and horses, and ammunition. Aeroplane could readily bomb attacking forces in brick fields front of position. Send ambulance, Lieut. Whyte and Constable van Heerden wounded.^[4]: 191

The message was actually sent at 11.30 AM, but all three Coloured men managed to reach Marshall Square with their messages.^[4]: 191

Constable C.W van der Westhuizen was sent unarmed in the direction of Langlaagte railway station in an attempt to get an ambulance.^[4]: 192 He returned shortly and reported that he had been stopped by rebel Commandant der Villiers and his commando, who promised to send an ambulance, with the added lie that 15000 rebels surrounded the policemen and that they and Auckland Park station were the last holdouts of police resistance.^[4]: 192 An ambulance party with two stretchers eventually came from the direction of Langlaagte railway station, and a second ambulance party soon arrived afterwards from Johannesburg.^[4]: 192 Lieutenant Whyte and Constable Van Heerden were moved to the General Hospital, but Van Heerden died on the way there.^[4]: 192 The rebel red cross team jeered the police, and made veiled threats towards the policemen which they said would happen if the police did not surrender.^[4]: 192 As Whyte and Van Heerden were evacuated to Johannesburg, their ambulance was halted by a group of rebels, who threatened to pull out and shoot the men inside if it turned out that they were government forces.^[4]: 197 One of the doctors inside of the ambulance would later explain that a rebel opened the backdoor of the ambulance, saw that the wounded man was Lieutenant Whyte, and then immediately shut the door closed, saying to the other rebels that "it's alright boys" before ordering the ambulance to proceed.^[4]: 197

The volume of fire increased during the afternoon but the sounds of gunshots slowly died out as it became night.^[4]: 192 Constable J. Olivier and a few others had managed to get a bucket and a half of water under heavy fire, while two black South African men brought the policemen a paraffin tin with water.^[4]: 192 A Chinese man, who was reportedly "in an appalling state of fright" successfully crawled for three quarters of a mile towards the police positions in order to bring the policemen two tins of sardines, one tin of salmon, and a few packets of cigarettes.^[4]: 192

Each policeman had only 50 rounds, but Major Hutcheons decided that the police would fight on until their ammunition was expended, at which point they would affix bayonets to their rifles and attempt to break through rebel positions to reach government lines.^[4]: 193 At around 3 AM, Constable H.W Van Heerden was killed by a rebel sniper.^[4]: 193

Aeroplanes had been seen during the day circling and reconnoitering the policemen's position and their surroundings, but the police were unsure if the planes had seen them.^[4]: 193 That night, the Maxim machine gun was removed from the front ridge to the rear ridge of the police's position, with Major Hutcheons and Lieutenant Baston taking command there.^[4]: 193 Captains Carruthers and Coxwell remained at the front ridge, while Robinson remained in the isolated position which he and his men had held the entire time at a minor ridge by the end of Brixton.^[4]: 193

Other than sporadic sniper fire, there was no fighting until 3:20 AM on 12 March, where then the rebels opened fire with everything they had, including a machine gun.^[4]: 193 This attack had little affect, with only one policeman (Constable H.W Van Heerden) killed, two wounded, and several horses killed.^[4]: 193 The rebels used the immense fire to approach police positions, but as a result of accurate and effective police fire, ended up being stuck in between the rebel lines and the police's position.^[4]: 193 After daybreak, a rebel Commandant and twenty men (who had been stuck in the middle) surrendered to Lieutenant Robinson, while other rebels who had been stuck attempted to flee towards rebel positions without their arms, only for some of them to be shot while fleeing.^[4]: 193

An aeroplane appeared at around 6:30 AM and dropped several copies of the following message above the policemen's position:^[4]: 193

"A combined attack is being made today to relieve you. Hold on. Minister of Defence admires your pluck and endurance, and every nerve is being strained so that your splendid effort will not be in vain."^[4]: 194

This message was rapidly circulated amongst the police, and it greatly increased the morale of the policemen as a result.^[4]: 193

At 8:30 AM, six aeroplanes of the SAAF appeared and dropped large quantities of ammunition and bread directly onto police positions, the former being particularly welcome as the policemen had been running out of ammunition at this stage.^[4]: 194 The aeroplanes then dropped bombs on and strafed rebel positions with Lewis machine guns.^[4]: 194

The revolutionary Red Cross teams had visited the policemen's position that morning, asking if the surrounded police had any wounded, only to appear physically disappointed when told that the police had few casualties.^[4]: 194

Early in the afternoon at around 2 PM, the relief force was spotted advancing under heavy rebel fire from the racecourse and the brick-fields.^[4]: 194 By 3 PM, the policemen were relieved, and at 5 PM the men evacuated their positions and returned to government lines.^[4]: 194 Shortly before the policemen left, two badly wounded black South African men were brought to them, the two men having been attacked by the revolutionaries.^[4]: 194

The police casualties at Newlands were two men killed, one man died of wounds, and three men wounded, out of a force of six officers and 195 men.^[4]: 195 The revolutionaries had approximately 2500 to 2600 combatants surrounding the police, and while it is unknown how many rebels became casualties, the number is believed to be high.^[4]: 194

Brakpan and the Brakpan Massacre

On the morning of 10 March, the manager of Brakpan mine, C.D Brodigan, received word that a rebel commando was approaching his mine.^[3]: 108 With only "a handful" of Special Police constables and 25 mine officials (the latter armed with outdated revolvers and Martini-Henry rifles), C Brodigan, after being optimistically told by his brother Lieutenant Vincent Brodigan that a police relief force would arrive, decided that they would defend the mine from the rebel attack for as long as they could.^[3]: 108

As the white police and mining officials were discussing the situation, an Induna (a headman who represented the Black workers in discussions with their White bosses) entered the room and told the white men that their black workers, who numbered around 100, were announcing that they were going to break out of the mine compound and fight the strikers using makeshift spears.^[3]: 109 With assistance from their mine managers and Indunas, the mine officials successfully de-escalated the situation, convincing the black workers to remain inside the compound.^[3]: 109

While this was taking place, the rebel commandos led by John Garnsworthy (who were 150 in number but whom only 50 were armed with rifles^[3]: 109) had advanced onto the mine entrance under a white flag, only to be challenged at the entrance by a Special Police constable.^[3]: 109 A parlay between Garnsworthy and this officer then ensued, and after Garnsworthy returned to his commando, he explained in a loud voice that: "I asked the officer to surrender, but he said he wouldn't! Then I said to the officer, I'll fight you!"^[3]: 109 The officer had said it was alright and the two men agreed to shake hands on this promise.^[3]: 109

Garnsworthy would later testify that he had asked C Brodigan (who was now at the entrance with the other defenders) if he could address everyone who was in the mine.^[3]: 109 The mine manager refused, stating that if Garnsworthy or any rebels entered the mine, they would be shot.^[3]: 109 C. Brodigan believed that the rebels were seemingly drunk, and as a result he thought that no negotiations would be fruitful.^[3]: 111 Garnsworthy gave C Brodigan 10 minutes to reconsider, and after these 10 minutes passed, the rebels who were armed opened fire and advanced towards the entrance, while those rebels without rifles were ordered to hide behind some nearby cottages.^[3]: 110

During the short negotiations, Lieutenant Vincent Brodigan ordered his forces to retire deeper into the Mine to less exposed positions.^[3]: 111 At around 8:30 AM, the fighting began, and it would later be reported that the rebels used improvised bombs and grenades during the fight.^[3]: 111 The underground manager and a sampler, C.K Pitt and J.L Rowe, received scalp woulds early into the fighting.^[3]: 111 Mine officials M.T Cook, Steuart Falkiner, and H Martin were all also wounded by bullets.^[3]: 111

The cottages mentioned prior belonged to mine staff, who lived with their families near the mines.^[3]: 110 The families of these mine officials, most of whom were women and children, were ordered out of their houses, all the while rebels stated that their houses would be burnt down.^[3]: 110 The group of women and children initially attempted to head towards the mine's main entrance, but were turned away by armed rebels under the threat of being shot.^[3]: 110 The group then slowly headed to the mine's native hospital under indiscriminate fire, a stray bullet of which hit one of the children, Mervyn Ball, in the leg.^[3]: 110 The 20 children in the group were put to bed on the floor of the hospital, while the women nervously stood inside the hospital, waiting for the gunfire to die down.^[3]: 110 After a while of waiting, a man soon entered the ward and stated that "There has been a mass murder down at the mine."^[3]: 110

After resisting the rebel attack for an hour, the defenders of Brakpan mine ran out of ammunition.^[3]: 111 A special police sergeant waved a white flag affixed to his bayonet, signaling their surrender.^[3]: 111 The rebels immediately captured the surrendering men, several rebels surrounding the mine manager C Brodigan.^[3]: 111 One rebel threatened the manager with a bayonet, while another hit C Brodigan over the back of his head with the butt of a rifle.^[3]: 111 One of the more moderate rebels asked his comrade why he hit an old man after he surrendered, to which the comrade responded with "He should have his head bashed in."^[3]: 111 A commando officer then ordered two unarmed rebels to take the captured mine manager to a safer area.^[3]: 111

In the Mine Office, three unnamed mine officials, an unnamed Black worker, and an unnamed special police constable were executed by rebels despite being unarmed and captured.^[3]: 111 Furthermore, a shaft clerk known as Phillips was found by rebels using a telephone in an attempt to call for help.^[3]: 111 A rebel demanded Phillips' watch and chain, and while Phillips' was handing them over, a second rebel shot Phillips in the back, killing him.^[3]: 111 Mine official G.W Lowden was kneeling beside M.T Cook and dressing the latter man's wounds when a rebel shot a dumdum bullet into the back of Lowden's head, killing Lowden immediately.^[3]: 112 Another rebel fired a shot at Cook, who pretended to be dead, the bullet having only singed him.^[3]: 111 Mine Captain Dennison was beaten on the head by rebels, but was saved by a rebel who had worked under Dennison as a miner.^[3]: 112 Lieutenant Vincent Brodigan and 2 other special police constables were taken to the transformer house and executed by rebels.^[3]: 112 Edwin Turton, a trader involved in the rebel assault on Brakpan mine, would later testify that he witnessed other rebels looting the dead defenders and destroying the defenders' furniture.^[3]: 112 When Edwin tried to stop this, he was pushed away from the scene, a rebel telling him that "If you are in sympathy with the scabs, you will be treated the same."^[3]: 112 The rebels then set mattresses on fire and placed them in the room where the wounded and dead defenders of Brakpan Mine were being kept.^[3]: 112 Edwin removed the mattresses from the room, and when he then tried to summon a doctor from a nearby settlement, the revolutionaries turned him away.^[3]: 112

When the fighting was over, the women and children were told that they could return to their homes, which contrary to what the rebels had said previously, had not been burned down.^[3]: 113 Some of the women later testified that the strikers shot at their houses windows despite knowing that the women and children were inside.^[3]: 113

The commando was ordered to then assault the nearby V.F.P Power Plant, which was defended by machine guns which covered the only route the commandos could take to reach the power plant.^[3]: 113 The rebels then ordered the women and children to form up on the road in front of them, with the idea that the rebels would use these civilians as human shields during the assault.^[3]: 113 Soon however, an SAAF aircraft flew overhead and dropped leaflets announcing that a relief force was being sent to the mine.^[3]: 113 The strikers, discouraged by this message, fired a few shots at the aircraft and then left the mine.^[3]: 113

Brixton Ridge

Brixton Ridge was a long and curved hill which formed across the western landscape of Johannesburg and flattened out towards the South.^[3]: 138 The revolutionaries had occupied the cottages which were spread out across the Ridge's southern face and set up defensive strongholds in the surrounding settlements of Fordsburg, Mayfair, Langlaagte, Vrededorp, Newlands, and Greymont.^[3]: 138

Near midnight of Wednesday 8 March, a small group of Active Citizen Force men (serving with the Transvaal Horse Artillery) left their homes in the eastern suburbs and, under the command of Sergeant W.L Paddon, made their way to battery headquarters at Auckland Park.^[3]: 136 At Jeppe this small force was fired upon, and when they came up from Braamfontein towards the showgrounds, they came across a large group of strikers on patrol.^[3]: 136 The strikers had an assortment of weapons, which included but was not limited to firearms, bicycle chains fastened to short sticks, and clubs with long nails driven through the heads.^[3]: 136 After a while of waiting, the patrol of strikers left towards the direction of Newlands, not spotting the small group of reservists as they went.^[3]: 136 Paddon's squad arrived at Auckland Park in the early hours of Thursday morning on 9 March.^[3]: 136 Once Paddon and his squad arrived, they were tasked with composing messages to other members of the regiment, summoning them to service.^[3]: 136 Several of the men at the headquarters carried revolvers, but there was only one rifle (which happened to have a defect in the barrel), which was handed out with 5 rounds of ammunition to the man on sentry duty.^[3]: 136 Before dawn, the men at the battery headquarters were woken up by the sound of marching outside and the repetition of "Links, Regs; Links, Regs" ("Left, Right" in english).^[3]: 137 Later that day the men of battery headquarters would discover that a rebel commando had passed them, as well as a nearby and thinly guarded Special Police tent that contained hundreds of rifles and large stocks of ammunition (a cache which the men of battery headquarters were unaware of at the time).^[3]: 137

Throughout the day, mobilized men and reservists trickled into the camp, including non-mobilized volunteers from other regiments, veterans from previous conflicts, and several volunteers from the Union Reserve of Officers who had not been mobilized.^[3]: 137 Major Fritz Adler, who was the officer commanding of Transvaal Horse Artillery, faced difficulties equipping his men and the many volunteers.^[3]: 137 The shells for the four 13 pounder guns had not yet arrived, and he lacked enough officers to create gun subsections and infantry squads.^[3]: 137 Eventually, it was pointed out to Major Adler that many of unmobilized volunteers either held a commissioned rank or had held a commissioned rank at some stage, and while this fixed the problem of finding officers, Major Adler still faced the issue of equipping them, as most arrived in civilian clothes.^[3]: 137 In the case of one volunteer, an ex-lifeguard known as Leech, he walked down the road from Auckland Park to the Country Club (where he lived at the time) and returned to Major Adler in a full Lieutenant's uniform.^[3]: 137

By 10 March, three separate units were encamped on the town-side slope of Brixton Ridge.^[3]: 137 The T.H.A was positioned at their headquarters on the right facing the ridge, A detachment of special police had been deployed on the open ground a short distance to the left, while a number of regular policemen occupied a depot south of the artillery headquarters on the right and closer to the ridge.^[3]: 137 Early that morning, Major Adler was ordered to send one of the guns to the East Rand, and this gun left the battery headquarters at 10 AM under the command of an officer with 22 men.^[3]: 13' The gun itself was towed by a lorry, and before making their way to the East Rand, the detachment stopped at the Drill Hall in Johannesburg to collect 48 rounds of ammunition and an additional armed escort from Vogelfontein.^[3]: 138 Adler's intelligence reported heavy rebel activity in Brixton, so he had his men equipped with Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifles from the nearby Special Police weapons cache and then deployed his men to defensive positions on his Eastern, Southern, and Western flanks.^[3]: 138

On that same morning, a force of strikers marched onto the Ridge by going through Vrededorp, and then spread out along the ridge in small groups.^[3]: 138 Commandant Piet Erasmus then addressed the rebel force, informing them that martial law had been declared and that "Martje Louw" was on his way, the latter joke statement causing laughter amongst the rebels.^[3]: 138 This rebel force had been equipped with various rifles, although one rebel would later testify that they also had a machine gun, which they had managed to cobble together after looting a municipal stores building in Vrededorp (although it is unclear what happened to the machine gun after that).^[3]: 138 A small section of rebels from Fordsburg who were a part of the Knobkerrie commando positioned themselves on the second floor classroom in the northwest corner of Cottesloe School, which was built on the ridge.^[3]: 138

Another rebel detachment took up positions in the Milner Park Junior School, which was built off of the slope by Braamfontein.^[3]: 139 A third rebel body was reported to have positioned themselves in a cottage on the corner of the cemetery directly opposite the junior school.^[3]: 139

Once they had positioned themselves, the rebels did nothing for several hours until sometime close to 4 PM.^[3]: 139 It was reported that one rebel, unable to handle the fact that they were doing nothing, raised his rifle and fired a single shot down the slope at government positions, which caused the rest of the rebel force to open fire as well.^[3]: 139 Major Adler would later disagree with this explanation of events, believing that the attack was premeditated as the rebel objective was to attack government positions.^[3]: 139 Two gunners of the T.H.A were killed and a third one was wounded, while the special police (who were in an exposed position) took heavier losses.^[3]: 139 The government forces returned fire, and after a short skirmish, the rebels began raising red cross flags across the ridge, indicating that they wanted to collect their wounded and dead.^[3]: 139 The government forces ceased firing, and both sides stayed in their positions until the next day.^[3]: 139 That evening, a troop from the Imperial Light Horse arrived to reinforce the battery headquarters.^[3]: 139 Major Adler was ordered to take command of all troops in the Brixton Ridge area, and while he considered an attack on the ridge that night, he did not follow through with this plan as he feared he did not have the adequate strength required for such an assault.^[3]: 139

Throughout Saturday, 11 March 1922, government units came to reinforce the defenders of Brixton, while rebels took shots at any movement that was spotted.^[3]: 139 It was decided by Adler to evacuate the girls (who were living in the Diocesan Hostel south east of the battery headquarters), as he feared that they may be caught in the crossfire of any battle which could possibly take place.^[3]: 139 In the early evening staff from St Mary's Cathedral arrived with a lorry to evacuate the girls, but the strikers opened fire on the lorry, forcing the Cathedral officials to take cover.^[3]: 140 Eventually, the civilian girls were successfully evacuated with no casualties, and the hostel was then occupied by Lieutenant A.G Lewis of the T.H.A and 25 men.^[3]: 140

A. Keith Chesterton (a reporter for The Star newspaper) was sent by acting news editor Don Urquhart to report on the fighting at Brixton Ridge.^[3]: 143 Chesterton then set out for Parktown in a car belonging to The Star, intending to follow the attack with the Durban Light Infantry.^[3]: 144 When Chesterton reached the D.L.I's positions, he was pulled from his car and searched by the soldiers, who were warned about potential spies.^[3]: 144 Discovering Chesterton's revolver, the soldiers were convinced that the reporter was a spy and that he should be immediately executed.^[3]: 144 Chesterton, having served under Colonel George Molyneux of the Durban Light Infantry during World War One, convinced the soldiers to take him to the colonel before they made a mistake.^[3]: 144 Colonel Molyneux, upon sighting Chesterton being frogmarched towards him under heavy armed guard, yelled: "What are you idiots doing with Chesterton!?"^[3]: 144 Chesterton then explained his situation to the colonel, who in turn told Chesterton that he needed officers, and who then asked if Chesterton would be willing to serve as an officer in the upcoming assault.^[3]: 144 Chesterton agreed, and he and an acquaintance then broke into the premises of a nearby theater company where props and costumes were being stored.^[3]: 144 Finding a khaki drill uniform and a helmet, Chesterton reported to the colonel within the hour he had been sent off at.^[3]: 144

Major Adler then handed over command to Colonel Edward Francis Thackeray, the latter of whom then planned an assault on the ridge for the next day, Sunday on March 12.^[3]: 140 Unlike Adler, Thackeray believed he had ample strength to perform the assault, as the battery headquarters had been reinforced by several A.C.F units, including the Durban Light Infantry (which had moved out of Parktown earlier that morning).^[3]: 140 Consisting of the Durban Light Infantry, the Witwatersrand Rifles, the Rand Light Infantry, the Imperial Light Horse, units from the S.A.M.R, and the reserve detachment of the Transvaal Scottish, the attack took place on March 12, beginning at the showground area above Auckland Park.^[3]: 140

The main infantry assault force attacked the ridge from the right, while a section of the Transvaal Scottish under the command of Lieutenant and South African cricketer Manfred Julius Susskind would attack through a valley on the left.^[3]: 140 The section of Transvaal Scottish faced heavy fire, and three men were killed, including Black Watch Major (although serving as a Transvaal Scottish Private) R.B Ovens, who was shot in the heart.^[3]: 140 Lieutenant Susskind was shot in the head, but his cap badge deflected the bullet.^[3]: 140 Susskind's fellow international cricketer, Eiulf Peter Nupen was shot in both knees and fell into a ditch.^[3]: 140 Of the 25 or 26 men who had gone through the valley, only 3 got out unwounded.^[3]: 141

SAAF aircraft were deployed in the assault, and dropped bombs on the striker's positions in the direction of Sophiatown and Newlands.^[3]: 141 In the depression and the koppies north and east of the ridge, the larger government force was gaining a foothold on the striker's left flank.^[3]: 141 Government snipers, positioned in trees, slowly picked off rebels on the ridge as the assault force advanced.^[3]: 141 The rebels positioned on the second floor of Cottesloe school reported movement close to a white building (the aforementioned Diocesan Hostel) in a hollow at Parktown directly opposite them.^[3]: 141 One rebel raised a telescope to get a better look, and then quickly turned back to face his comrades, reporting that it was government soldiers setting up an artillery gun.^[3]: 141 This 13-pounder gun (and the other two 13 pounders) soon opened fire, the gunner crews firing over open sights.^[3]: 141 One of the 13-pounders opened fire at the Cottesloe school, scoring a hit on the corner of the second floor.^[3]: 141 The knobkerrie rebels, certain that the school was on fire as a result of the shelling, evacuated from their positions in the school and took up positions in the nearby outbuildings.^[3]: 143 By the time the fighting at Brixton would finish, at least 34 shells had been fired into the ridge, the use of artillery having caused a heavy drop in morale amongst the rebels.^[3]: 143

When the main government assault force charged up the right flank of the long koppie, the rebel positions almost immediately began to collapse.^[3]: 143 Having successfully taken the summit of the ridge, the assault force began firing at the remaining rebels on the ridge (as well as the rebels in the outbuildings) with heavy machine gun and rifle fire.^[3]: 143 The commandos and strikers then began to surrender, around 1700 revolutionaries in total being captured by the government assault force, before being sent to a temporary prisoner of war camp near the battery headquarters.^[3]: 143

The Durban Light Infantry, after having helped take the ridge, maneuvered towards Newlands, where they came upon a detachment of 30-40 regular policemen (belonging to "J" and "L" Squadrons) who had been there since Friday.^[3]: 144 The detachment of policemen were hungry and tired, and had already lost two officers and three men to sniper fire.^[3]: 144 The D.L.I continued their advance, and after facing no resistance in the area, escorted the policemen to their headquarters.^[3]: 144 The I.L.H and S.A.M.R moved to the koppies North of Newlands and routed the strong rebel holdouts which were strung out across the slopes near Brixton.^[3]: 144 By the early afternoon, Brixton Ridge and its satellite koppies were under government control, allowing for an assault on rebel-held Fordsburg.^[3]: 145

Dunswart and Benoni

On 9 March, the Transvaal Scottish Regiment initially had difficulties mobilizing it's men, as the East Rand was held by the rebels and the mobilization centers in Johannesburg were harried by strikers.^[3]: 114 The battalion's two West Rand platoons were driven by motor transport to the Drill Hall under the command of Lieutenants McCalgan and Ross.^[9]: 109 The two lieutenants had then been sent to Krugersdorp with a small force with orders to reinforce the Police post there and then collect the Roodepoort and Krugersdorp platoons, which they did without any difficulties.^[9]: 109 Having been warned that the Fordsburg Commando planned to ambush them along the Main Road on their return journey, the Transvaal Scottish avoided this threat by maneuvering through the town of Fordsburg itself.^[9]: 109 Upon returning to the Drill Hall, the platoon sergeant of the Roodepoort platoon announced that his platoon mobilized in protest, and that they had no interest in fighting the strikers.^[9]: 109 While the sergeant was demobilized and kept under armed guard for the entirety of the Rand Revolt, the rest of the platoon reportedly did "magnificent work" in the service of their government.^[9]: 109 For the rest of 9 March, the Transvaal Scottish would assist in furnishing garrisons at Robinson Deep, Simmer Pan, and Rosherville Power Station.^[9]: 109

On 10 March, as a result of the Transvaal Scottish being the strongest Active Citizen Force unit in the area at that time, the Transvaal Scottish were ordered to deploy to Benoni, where they were then meant to relieve the Benoni police station.^[9]: 109 Leaving behind 250 men at the Drill Hall who could not be equipped in time, the remaining Transvaal Scottish (under the command of experienced officer Lieutenant Colonel Donald McLeod) got on a train and began their journey to Benoni.^[9]: 109 During the train ride, the police at Vogelfontein station managed to report to the Transvaal Scottish that a railway line had been potentially sabotaged at Avenue Halt.^[9]: 109 In response to this report, a party of Transvaal Scottish under the command of an engineer officer was then ordered to precede the train and examine the railway lines.^[9]: 110

As the train approached Dunswart Station at around 14:00, fifteen armed mounted men of the rebels' Putfontein Commando were spotted leaving the railway line.^[9]: 110 The rebels then opened fire from the orchards, cottages, and the Dunswart Steelworks on both sides of the railway line, as well as from positions in front of the train.^[3]: 115 Four platoons of Transvaal Scottish dismounted the train and deployed to protect the route, with three of the platoons on the right side of the line, positioned in the Dunswart Station's garden.^{[9]: 110  [3]: 115} The remainder of the battalion now also dismounted the train, and in the battle which ensued, three officers and nine other ranks of the Transvaal Scottish were killed, and two officers and twenty four other ranks were wounded.^[9]: 110 After accurate counter fire from the Transvaal Scottish, the rebels positioned on the right began a retreat through the orchards and cottage gardens, and the rebels on the left and front soon retreated as well.^[3]: 115

McLeod planned to get his men off of the train, where they would then march to Benoni with their reserve ammunition.^[3]: 115 McLeod was then informed of the rebel's apparent general retreat on the right flank, which made McLeod skeptical of his plan.^[3]: 115 Believing the "general retreat" to actually be an attempt by the rebels to attack the Transvaal Scottish from behind, McLeod quickly planned for his men back onto the train so that they could continue with the original plan and prevent further enemy attacks.^[3]: 116 This second plan was also abandoned, as not only would it have been easy for rebel snipers to kill the wounded men being put back onto the train, but McLeod was informed that a rebel commando force was waiting to ambush the Transvaal Scottish at Avenue Road.^[3]: 116 Colonel Taylor would suggest to McLeod that they dig-in and hold on, but this plan was rejected by McLeod, who thought it wouldn't be worth it once the rebels completely surrounded them.^[3]: 116 Eventually, McLeod decided to get his men back onto the train and make a withdrawal to the town of Dunswart, where they would then set up defensive positions.^[3]: 116 While they collected their dead and wounded, Captain Harry Halse with a force of 100 mounted policemen and a 13 pounder field gun from the Transvaal Horse Artillery arrived from Boksburg.^[3]: 116 Captain Halse was looking for reinforcements to relieve the defenders of Benoni, and the Transvaal Scottish were required to assist.^[3]: 117 Putting the dead and seriously wounded on the train with a small escort, the rest of the Transvaal Scottish (both the fit and the wounded) began their march to Benoni.^[3]: 117 Captain Halse offered to guide the Transvaal Scottish through a lesser known route, and put a troop of mounted policemen ahead of the relief force as scouts and a troop of mounted policemen behind the relief force as a rearguard, while the rest of the mounted police maneuvered alongside the Transvaal Scottish.^[3]: 117

As they marched through a "native" settlement and the Kleinfontein Mine, only two shots were fired at the relief force before they reached Benoni town.^[3]: 117 Because of Halse's new route which entered Benoni from the south, the rebels were unprepared to fight the relief force from that direction, and had set up defenses entirely on the other side of the town.^[3]: 117 Arriving at the Benoni police barracks at 6 PM, the Transvaal Scottish were permitted to get some rest.^[3]: 117

The next day, posts were established at the Power Station, the Post Office, and the Banks, as the defenders of Benoni were unable to clear the town entirely. Revolutionary snipers were gradually silenced throughout Saturday and Sunday by counter-sniping, machine gun fire, and the arrest of suspects.^[9]: 110 The government defenders of Benoni often set out patrols to clear buildings of snipers and neutralize rebels. On one occasion a Transvaal Scottish patrol moving along in file up against each building had to pass a gap where a house was set back with a garden in front.^[9]: 110 An old man who acted friendly with the patrol was working in the garden.^[9]: 110 As an officer made a dash across the gap, however, the old man whipped out a revolver and fired, missing the officer before the old man was then captured by the patrol.^[9]: 110 Furthermore, many of the rebel snipers are reported to have fought in women's clothes to prevent detection, or sniped at government soldiers from beneath the skirts of women.^{[9]: 110  [3]: 177}

On 12 March (Sunday), Lieutenant Colonel Burne entered Benoni with a small force of South African Mounted Riflemen from Robert Heights (18 officers and 333 other ranks), with orders to relieve the government defenders of Benoni and clear the rebel positions section-by-section.^[3]: 127 At 6:30 AM, the relief force entered the Asian and Bantu sections of Benoni and came into contact with the 1st Permanent Battery under Major Wolmarans.^[3]: 127 A small detachment of Transvaal Scottish who accompanied the relief force were sent to join Colonel McLeod at Benoni.^[3]: 127 Burne then planned to assault a strong rebel position at Dunswart, deploying two 13-pounder guns to assist in the assault (although the gunners were ordered not to shoot at houses).^[3]: 127 After an hour of fighting, the government assault force took the Dunswart Steel Works and the brass foundry although this attack resulted in high police casualties, including the death of Captain Halse.^{[9]: 110  [3]: 128} The strikers then repositioned to the western outskirts of Benoni, firing at the government forces from captured houses and the orchards.^[3]: 128 Colonel Burne moved his headquarters to the steelworks, and then ordered the attack to move along the Main Reef Road through Benoni.^[3]: 128 Burne's force advanced in a circular motion, clearing the south-east, south-west, and north-west suburban areas held by strikers.^[3]: 128 The government forces already in Benoni picked off strikers who attempted to attack Burne's force by maneuvering past the defenders' positions.^[3]: 128 By the afternoon, Burne's force had captured a third of Benoni.^[3]: 128 With reports coming in of a revolutionary attack on Benoni the next day, the Transvaal Scottish spent that Sunday night by entrenching themselves and preparing defensive positions at the Benoni police barracks.^[9]: 111 The scattered posts were abandoned as it was believed that they could no longer be reliably held.^[9]: 111 That night, revolutionaries reportedly looted and burned buildings in Benoni, taking advantage of the besieged government positions.^[9]: 111

That afternoon, government burghers from Standerton arrived and set up camp at East Rand station under the command of Commandant G.J Engelbrecht and Lieutenant Colonel P.Botha, where they waited for rifles and ammunition to arrive from Pretoria.^[3]: 128 Later that day, General Johannes Van Deventer met with the two burgher leaders and Burne, where they planned a full-scale operation on the next day, 13 March.^[3]: 128 The government officers were confident of victory, as their forces were strengthened by unarmed volunteers from Platteland.^[3]: 128 Just before midnight, a munitions train (which had been held up 3 times by sabotaged railway lines) carrying rifles and ammunition arrived at East Rand Station, and the burghers and volunteers spent most of early Monday morning being equipped.^[3]: 129 At 6:30 AM, Burne sent reconnaissance patrols and prepared to attack, and by 7:30 AM, more than a thousand government soldiers were advancing into Benoni.^[3]: 129

The assault force's left flank was reinforced by burgher commandos from thr Heidelberg Highveld and Standerton West (under the command of Commandants Trichardt and W.J Van Rensburg respectively).^[3]: 129 On the right flank, burgher commandos from Standerton and Blesbokspruit (under the command of Commandant Greyling) launched an enveloping movement, while the Heidelberg Town commando (under the command of Commandant Mangold) was held in reserve.^[3]: 129 Many strikers reportedly either surrendered immediately on sight of government forces or gave an overall lackluster defense, with government forces breaking past the heavy barricades (which had been set up around the Benoni Trade Hall) by 10 AM with light casualties.^[3]: 129

Many revolutionaries attempted to escape capture by abandoning their firearms in gutters or other such hiding spots and then pretending to be uninvolved civilians.^[3]: 130 This issue was solved by Burne who had every man in the town rounded up and then allowed those men who could prove their lack of involvement to leave.^[3]: 130 The rest of the men who could not prove their innocence were placed in a temporary internment camp under the guard of a Transvaal Scottish detachment.^[3]: 130 Many civilians in Benoni were reportedly angry at the strikers, and while the Benoni Fire Brigade was being sent to extinguish a fictional fire, a group of civilians burnt down the Benoni Trades Hall.^[3]: 130

Ellis Park

Fordsburg and Marshall Square

Fordsburg had been one of the main sources of revolutionary activity, and as such, it was where Percy Fisher and Harry Spendiff commanded their forces from.^[3]: 107 Meanwhile, the nearby Marshall Square was the main police headquarters in Johannesburg, meaning it was imperative to the rebels that they captured it as soon as possible.^[4]: 194

Brakpan and the East Rand outskirts

Wanting to press the advantage and build on the success they had achieved in Benoni, General Van Deventer ordered the government forces under his command to immediately maneuver to Brakpan and relieve the defenders of Brakpan town.^[3]: 130 The defenders of Brakpan were primarily located at the power station and the police station (these positions sharing a machine gun crew and a lewis gun crew from the Permanent Force), although there were isolated units as well.^[3]: 130

Deventer's relief force left Benoni at 12:30 PM, and by 13:30 PM the Brakpan Mine was captured without opposition.^[3]: 131 Shortly after the capture of the mine, the defenders of the power station were relieved by Deventer's relief force.^[3]: 131 A squadron of S.A.M.R alongside a police escort advanced through Brakpan without opposition, although they then faced heavy rebel gunfire once they emerged at the South-East end of the town.^[3]: 131

The government units on the S.A.M.R's left and right flanks faced brief skirmishes with rebels, primarily at Brakpan Railway station and a timber yard on the right, and at the plantations on the left.^[3]: 131 The plantations on the left also faced shelling from a field gun.^[3]: 131 The field gun in question was a World War One memorial which had been standing at the Brakpan Mine golf club.^[3]: 131 The surviving Brakpan Mine officials, wanting to avenge the victims of the Brakpan Mine massacre, loaded the field gun with a borrowed shell and aimed it at the rebel positions at the plantations.^[3]: 131 While there is no evidence to suggest that the field gun hit anything, all of the windows within the vicinity of the plantations were reportedly shattered.^[3]: 131

The rebels at Brakpan did not expect Deventer's relief force, and by 14:30 PM the entire town was captured by government forces.^[3]: 131 A similar process to what took place at Benoni then commenced, with all male inhabitants of Brakpan being rounded up and placed in the town's market square, where they were then searched and classified by a magistrate, detectives, and uniformed police officers.^[3]: 131 Those residents deemed loyal to the government were issued passes, while those who could not prove their innocence were sent to Boksburg Jail.^[3]: 131 On the Tuesday morning, the police made a house-to-house search, which resulted in the capture of 800 rebels, 100 rifles, 70 revolvers, and 3000 rounds of ammunition.^[3]: 131 Among the captured rebels was John Garnsworthy.^[3]: 131

Deventer maintained communication with Brakpan town via telephone lines (which the East Rand rebels had failed to sabotage), and was therefore easily able to respond to sightings of rebel movement.^[3]: 131 The use of Burghers played a large role in lowering the morale of rebels, as many rebels believed that the burghers would either join them in their revolt against the pro-British Jan Smuts government, or would remain neutral.^[3]: 132 In one instance, a pro-government mounted burgher patrol was approached by a group of 30 armed strikers, who believed the burghers to be fellow revolutionaries.^[3]: 132 After warmly greeting the burghers, the officer commanding the strikers said to his burgher equivalent: "Shall we go along with you?" To which the burgher officer responded with "Yes, by all means. In the center."^[3]: 132 The strikers did as they were told, and were then immediately surrounded and captured by the burgher patrol.^[3]: 132

West Rand

Having captured Brixton Ridge, Colonel Thackeray set up his headquarters at Auckland Park in preparation for the government assault on Fordsburg.^[3]: 146 Braamfontein was now occupied by military units while other troops were entrenched in the railway grounds at Kazerne.^[3]: 146 Furthermore, Godley's police held a line from Marshall Square down to the mine dumps in the South West.^[3]: 146 The strikers in the southern suburbs were being contained by small detachments of military and police units while burghers loyal to the government (under the command of Colonel Albert Nussey) were being deployed upon the western perimeter of the Witwatersrand.^[3]: 146

Nussey's push into the Western suburbs was well-planned and well-timed.^[3]: 146 The government advance guard under the command of Commandant Piet De La Rey reached Krugersdorp on Saturday afternoon and the main body of loyal burghers arrived the following day.^[3]: 146 The government burghers then occupied Roodepoort on the Sunday night with little to no opposition.^[3]: 146 The rebel forces on the West Rand were considered to be poorly equipped, poorly trained, and poorly motivated, and Nussey was able to complete his movements easily as a result.^[3]: 146

On 13 March (Monday), Nussey's burghers advanced in four columns.^[3]: 146 The mounted details advanced North and South of the Railway track, a column of burgher infantry proceeded to Johannesburg via Main Reef Road, while a force of 600 burghers travelled by an armoured-train escorted train.^[3]: 146 A dawn advance was made by the burghers onto the settlement of Florida, which happened with little trouble.^[3]: 146 Nussey would leave a small force in Florida under the command of Commandant Bothma before splitting the rest of his burgher force into two columns, one which marched along Main Reef Road, and the other which marched parallel to the railway line.^[3]: 147 Detachments of Nussey's burghers liberated Hamberg and Maraisberg while facing little to no resistance, successfully recapturing the police stations in those towns.^[3]: 147 The pro-government Luipaardsvlei Commando under the command of Commandant Muller advanced into Fairlands and released a sub-inspector and other policemen who had been captured at Newlands.^[3]: 147

By the evening, Nussey had burghers positioned within striking distance of rebel-controlled Fordsburg, where he then ordered a halt.^[3]: 147 That night, his extended force linked up with other government detachments. His right flank made contact with a squadron of South African Mounted Rifles under the command of Captain Van Der Merwe, while a portion of Nussey's burghers under the command of Commandant Meyer joined up with elements of the Durban Light Infantry in the vicinity of New Clare Station.^[3]: 147 That Tuesday (14 March), Nussey moved his headquarters to the Langlaagte railway station, and then waited for orders to proceed onto Fordsburg.^[3]: 147

Fordsburg

Percy Fisher became noticeably mentally strained as a result of managing much of the Fordsburg rebel operations directly.^[3]: 147 A rebel named Daniel Colraine would later testify that he urged Fisher and Spendiff to surrender (or at the very least bring the concept forward as a vote to the rest of the rebels) in the face of the overwhelming government forces.^[3]: 147 Colraine would state that Fisher and Spendiff, while appreciating the proposition, ended up refusing to entertain such an idea as they feared it would make the communist movement seem cowardly.^[3]: 147

That Sunday on 12 March, local newspapers would report that a "sullen fatalism" had taken over many of the Fordsburg rebels, with many rebels turning to drinking and gambling.^[3]: 148 One unfounded and unrealistic rumor which spread through the rebel ranks was about how a young girl doing some errands was shoved to the ground by policemen and then killed with a bayonet stab.^[3]: 148 The rank-and-file policemen, for their part, were by at this point enraged at the revolutionaries, and the policemen oftentimes discussed the possibility of shooting suspects on sight, although such calls to action were seemingly never followed through with.^[3]: 148

Fisher's mental state was reportedly deteriorating as government forces drew nearer.^[3]: 147 It would be testified that Fisher would actively seek out noncombatants and order them (oftentimes at gunpoint) to help in preparing Fordsburg's defenses.^[3]: 147 Captured policemen held in Fordsburg would later testify that Fisher repeatedly attempted to gain an oath of neutrality from the police prisoners, and when this failed, he would sjambok the policemen and threaten them at gunpoint in an attempt to break their morale, although this failed too.^{[3]: 148  [5]: 59} Lawrence Saunders, a rebel officer at Fordsburg, would testify at the later court of inquiry that on the Monday he overheard Fisher stating that he would shoot the police prisoners.^[3]: 148 Saunders took this information to Allen Davies (another rebel officer), and the two men, who had guaranteed the safety of some of the police prisoners, then confronted Fisher and Spendiff.^[3]: 148 Saunders asked Fisher if he was genuine in his threat, and Fisher responded with a yes, saying that the police prisoners were a "damned nuisance".^[3]: 148 Saunders and Davies then pulled revolvers on Fisher and Spendiff, and forced the two men to put their hands up.^[3]: 148 After a brief argument, Fisher said that he would leave the policemen alone, but if the rebels successfully held out against the government counterattack, Fisher explained that he would kill Saunders instead, telling Saunders that "It's all right, old boy; if we win this outfit i will do for you the first chance i get."^[3]: 148

On 14 March, Tuesday morning, an SAAF aeroplane was spotted circling over Fordsburg, the aircraft dropping thousands of leaflets ordering civilians (both black and white) to move out of Fordsburg by 11 AM.^[3]: 150 These leaflets were printed in English, Afrikaans, Zulu, and Sotho ^[10], and read the following message:

Women and children and persons well disposed towards the government are advised to leave between 6 am and 11 am. Today that part of Fordsburg and vicinity is where the authority of the government is defied and military operations may take place. They will proceed to Show Ground with such blankets, food, and personal belongings as they can carry with them. They will take the following route: Through Vrededorp Subway along Kaffir Street and 17th Street, then via Toll Street to tramline, following tramline to main entrance of Show Ground. No immunity from arrest and punishment is guaranteed to any person coming out under this notice who has broken the law.^[10]

Against the wishes of the government, a second refugee camp was established at Mayfair School inside of the school's auditorium.^[3]: 152 Taffy Long, a rebel officer who was wearing his makeshift uniform, stood on the auditorium's platform and called on every male older than 15 years old to move to the revolutionary's Fordsburg headquarters and partake in the defence.^[3]: 152 Several men, with the help of their wives, attempted to evade the call-up, but most of the refugees there were in support of this call-up and therefore every man was forced to go.^[3]: 152 Taffy would exclaim to them that every man should join the defence, and those men who didn't have guns would pick guns up off of the dead.^[3]: 152 One of these men pressed into service was an unarmed teenager named Rautenbach, who was shot in the head and killed soon after arriving at the defensive line.^[3]: 152

30 minutes before the government attack was meant to commence, a representative from the Fordsburg rebels arrived and asked for terms of surrender. General Beves, who was confident in victory, told the representative that he would only accept unconditional surrender by 11 AM, otherwise the attack would begin as scheduled.^[3]: 152 At 11 AM, two Transvaal Horse Artillery 13 pounder guns, positioned on Brixton Ridge, opened fire.^[3]: 152 A third T.H.A 13 pounder gun on Sauer Street (which was South of Marshall Square) soon opened fire as well.^[3]: 152 As there was a fear that the guns may kill the police prisoners, it was decided that only Shrapnel shells would be used in the government barrage.^[3]: 152 The gun on Sauer Street, after heavily damaging the rebel headquarters, stopped firing after an officer realized that it might kill police prisoners on accident.^[3]: 152

Behind the barrage, government forces commenced their assault.^[3]: 152 Mounted Burghers from Gatsrand, Vaal River, Losberg and Klerksdorp commandos under the command of Commandant Meyer began a wide encircling movement to the South of the railway line with their objective being to link with police squadrons.^[3]: 153 This movement was successfully completed at noon.^[3]: 153 An hour later, Captain W.T.R Whelehan of the South African Police received orders to make a frontal advance, but heavy fire from the rebels discouraged this plan.^[3]: 153 Communications with Whelehan's right flank were disrupted, and after receiving permission to pause the advance, Whelehan discovered that elements of "L" Squadron had already moved forward, and were now taking cover in a sluit.^[3]: 153 When "L" Squadron returned, the lieutenant in command of "L" Squadron reported to Whelehan that a mill in the Fordsburg Dip was full of rifles, and he recommended to the captain that the mill should be bombed by the SAAF.^[3]: 153 Whelehan then discovered that the burghers he linked up with hours earlier had now retired westward, leaving a gap between the two forces.^[3]: 153 The burghers also left behind a wounded officer, Lieutenant Blignaut, who had been shot in the head.^[3]: 153

The appearance of Nussey's forces on the outskirts of Fordsburg ended many of the strikers' hopes of salvaging a victory.^[3]: 153 A mentally unwell Fisher, still in command of the rebels, ordered that there would be no surrender.^[3]: 153 5 strikers who were found attempting to desert were brought to Fisher, where he reportedly sjambokked (flogged with a sjambok) them mercilessly.^[3]: 153 At this stage however, Fisher was showing surprising gentleness towards the police prisoners, telling them that they should find whatever cover they could.^[3]: 153 The captured policemen however decided that they would wait on the first floor of the main hall, believing that their liberation would arrive soon.^[3]: 153 The police prisoners casually chatted to one another and quietly listened to the repetitive singing by the strikers of the chorus verses of the song "Red Flag".^[3]: 153

At around 11:50 AM, a composite assault force mostly made up of men from the Durban Light Infantry and Transvaal Scottish left Brixton Ridge and moved south, with their first objective being to take the railway line between Fordsburg and Braamfontein stations.^[3]: 154 After successfully taking the railway line, the force halted and waited for the signal from their artillery to continue the advance.^[3]: 154 Prime Minister and General Jan Smuts and his staff had meanwhile posted themselves at a vantage point where they could observe the entire operation.^[3]: 154 Civilian motorists were transporting soldiers through the zones of battle, while military headquarters in Pretoria had sent a whippet tank (H.M.L.S Union) to assist the assault force.^[3]: 154 Despite breaking down in the Fordsburg zone of battle and losing one of it's crew, the whippet tank reportedly had a great effect on the morale of both government and rebel forces.^[3]: 154 An armoured car under the command of Rand Light Infantry sergeant-major H. Hall also contributed to the battle.^[3]: 154

Nussey's dismounted burghers were now in Fordsburg and were making their way towards Fordsburg Square, clearing cottages and rooming-houses which the rebels had converted into sniper nests.^[3]: 154 Nussey's mounted burghers meanwhile had moved across to the right and linked up with police in the mining terrain.^[3]: 154 For a time there was a sizable gap between this mounted column and the infantry working through from the west, although this gap was soon closed by the Ventersdorp Commando under the command of Commandant Yssel (who's commando had been held in reserve up to this point).^[3]: 154 The encircling movement from the west was now complete.^[3]: 154

When it was clear to Fisher and Spendiff that victory was impossible, the two men quietly bid farewell to their close comrades and then went to their office.^[3]: 154 An elderly police sergeant (whom Percy Fisher had reportedly targeted in particular with abuse and torture in a failed attempt to break the sergeant's spirits) turned to his fellow policemen and stated that "They are going to put themselves out."^[3]: 154 Before killing themselves with a gunshot to the head, the two leaders of the strike, Percy Fisher and Harry Spendiff, left a note signed by both of the two of them which said: "We died for what we believed in - the Cause."^[11]

From 15 to 19 March 1922, South African troops cleared the areas of snipers and did house-to-house searches of premises belonging to the rebels. The rebellion was officially declared over on 18 March 1922.